Coated Insert for Food Handling Totes

ABSTRACT

A corrugated paperboard insert for plastic totes includes four side walls and a bottom made from a single sheet of corrugated paperboard. The bottom comprises four interlocking flaps connected along fold lines to respective sidewalls and configured to form an auto-locking bottom that avoids the need for taping. The corrugated paperboard comprises an uncoated linerboard forming an exterior surface of the insert, a coated linerboard forming an interior surface of the insert, a corrugated sheet fixed between the outer linerboard and inner linerboard. The coated linerboard includes a water-based, moisture resistant coating that is food contact rated and recyclable with uncoated paperboard. In some embodiments, point size and/or weight of the inner linerboard is greater than a point size and weight of the outer linerboard.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional ApplicationNo. 63/297,563, which was filed on Jan. 7, 2022, the disclosure of whichis incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to automated food handlingequipment and, more particularly, to corrugated inserts for totesdesigned for automated food handling equipment.

BACKGROUND

Over the past decade, the e-commerce boom has resulted in increasingdemand for automated material handling equipment in distributioncenters, warehouses, and factories. More recently, automated materialhandling equipment is being deployed in hybrid stores that mergefeatures of online shopping and conventional brick and mortar stores. Asone example, Wal-Mart recently unveiled an automated food handlingsystem called Alphabet for hybrid grocery stores that enable customersto order groceries online for curb side pickup. Alphabet uses autonomouscarts to retrieve food items from a warehouse-style space and deliverthem to a workstation where a human worker checks and bags the ordersfor pickup.

In automated material handling equipment, plastic containers calledtotes are used to collect and transport products. These standard totesare suitable for a wide range of packaged goods typically found ingrocery stores but may not be suitable for fruits and vegetables thatneed to be refrigerated. Fruits and vegetables can leave residues ororganic fragments that contaminate the plastic tote. Consequently, theplastic totes need to be cleaned frequently to avoid spoilage orcontamination of food products carried in the totes. Thus, cleaningequipment is also needed to clean and disinfect the totes periodically.Additionally, the plastic totes are not available for use while they arebeing cleaned and disinfected, which results a larger number of totesthat need to be on hand. Both of these factors, need for cleaning andincreased number of totes required, increase the costs of operatingautomated food handling equipment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plastic tote with modular insertsincluding a full insert, a half insert and a quarter insert.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a corrugated paperboard blank for a fullinsert.

FIG. 3 is a corrugated paperboard blank for a half insert.

FIG. 4 is a corrugated paperboard blank for a quarter insert.

FIG. 5 is a section view of a corrugated paperboard for making theinserts.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates generally to corrugated paperboardinserts for plastic totes designed for handling perishable foodproducts, such as fruits, vegetables, and meat products. The corrugatedinserts 10 can be made in different sizes designed to fit the spaceinside a standard tote. The corrugated paperboard insert includes fourside walls and a bottom made from a single sheet of corrugatedpaperboard. The bottom comprises four interlocking flaps connected alongfold lines to respective sidewalls and configured to form anauto-locking bottom that avoids the need for taping. The corrugatedpaperboard comprises an uncoated linerboard forming an exterior surfaceof the insert, a coated linerboard forming an interior surface of theinsert, a corrugated sheet fixed between the outer linerboard and innerlinerboard. The coated linerboard includes a water-based, moistureresistant coating that is food contact rated and recyclable withuncoated paperboard. In some embodiments, point size and/or weight ofthe inner linerboard is greater than a point size and weight of theouter linerboard.

The inserts are suitable for use in with organic and perishable foodproducts. The inserts help retain moisture in the food products and willnot break down when exposed to moisture in the food products. Theinserts prevent contamination of the plastic totes so the totes need canbe cleaned less often and thereby reduce operating costs for automatedmaterial handling equipment. Additionally, the inserts can be recycledwith uncoated paperboard. Thus, natural resources for manufacture of theinserts are conserved and fees for disposal of the coated paperboard inlandfills is avoided.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure relates generally to corrugated paperboardinserts for plastic totes 12 designed for handling perishable foodproducts, such as fruits, vegetables, and meat products. The corrugatedinserts 10 can be made in different sizes designed to fit the spaceinside a standard tote 12. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a modularsystem of inserts 10 for use with a standard plastic tote. The modularsystem enables a combination of full inserts 10A, half inserts 10B andquarter inserts 10C designed to be used with a standard plastic tote 12as the circumstances require. The plastic tote 12 can be used with 1full insert 10A, 2 half inserts 10B, or 4 quarter inserts 10, or somecombination thereof (e.g., 2 half inserts 10B or 1 half tote 12 and 2quarter inserts 10C).

In one exemplary embodiment, the inserts 10 comprise open-ended,rectangular boxes made of corrugated board, each having a bottom andfour walls. The inserts 10 may use a double wall or single wallconstruction. The corrugated board includes a fluted corrugated sheetsandwiched between two linerboards in a machine called a corrugator. Thelinerboards may be made of the same material or different materials.

Conventionally, wax treatments are used for corrugated boxes designedfor shipping and packaging perishable food items. The wax treatmentprovides a moisture barrier to prevent moisture loss in food productsand is acceptable for food contact. However, corrugated board with waxcoating cannot be mixed with standard corrugated board for recycling andrequires special handling because additional processing steps arerequired to separate the wax coating from the corrugated board.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the inserts 10 arecoated on at least one side (e.g., inside only or both inside andoutside) with a moisture-resistant coating that is 1) is food contactrated, and 2) can be recycled with standard uncoated corrugated board,i.e., compostable. In one embodiment, the coating comprises awater-based coating, such as the SURFSHIELD coating, FLUTESHIELD coatingor FLEXSHIELD coating offered by Cascades Sonoco.

In one embodiment, the insert 10 has a single-wall construction and theinside linerboard, i.e., the linerboard facing the interior of theinsert 10, is made with a heavier paperboard stock that the outerlinerboard. Only the inner linerboard is coated with a water-basedcoating that is food contact rated and compostable.

FIGS. 2 - 4 illustrate blanks 20 for making modular inserts 10 accordingto one exemplary embodiment. The blanks 20 shown in FIGS. 2 - 4 areessentially the same except for dimensions. FIG. 2 illustrates a fullinsert 10A, FIG. 3 illustrates a half insert 10B, and FIG. 4 illustratesa quarter insert 10C.

The blank 20 comprises four wall panels 22A – 22D connected along foldlines 24 that form the side walls of the insert 10 10. Four interlockingbottom flaps 26A-26D are connected along fold lines 28 to the bottomedges of the wall panels 22. The bottom flaps 26A-26D are designed toform an auto-locking bottom that does not require any tape or adhesive.The auto-locking bottom is preferred over a standard die cut bottombecause the moisture in the food product may cause tape securing thebottom flaps to detach. A tab 30 extends along the edge of wall panel22A for joining with the wall panel 22D when the insert 10 is beingassembled. The tab 30 includes an adhesive (not shown), such as hotmelt, for securing the tab 30 to the interior side of the adjacent wallpanel 22D.

FIG. 5 is a section view of the corrugated paperboard 40 for making aninsert 10 as herein described. As previously noted, the corrugatedpaperboard 40 comprises two linerboards, referred to herein as the innerlinerboard 42 and outer linerboard 44, with a corrugated sheet 46between the two linerboards 42, 44. The inner linerboard 42 is on theside facing the interior of the tote 10 and the outer linerboard 44 ison the side facing the exterior of the box. In one exemplary embodiment,the corrugated paperboard is a 32 ECT B flute Kraft paperboard.

In one embodiment, the inner linerboard 42 is coated with a water-basedmoisture resistant coating, such as the SURFSHIELD coating offered byCascades Sonoco. Both sides of the inner linerboard 42 can be coated or,alternatively, the coating can be applied only to the surface in contactwith the food products inside the insert. The outer linerboard 44 is anuncoated paperboard. In other embodiments, both the inner and outerlinerboards 42, 44 are coated.

In one embodiment, the point size and/or weight of the inner linerboard42 is preferably greater than a point size and weight of the outerlinerboard 44. For example, the inner linerboard may comprise a 55 lb.paperboard and the outer linerboard may comprise a 42 lb. paperboard.The flute may comprise a 26 lb. B flute paperboard.

The insert 10 as herein described is suitable for use in with organicand perishable food products. The inserts 10 help retain moisture in thefood products and will not break down when exposed to moisture in thefood products. The inserts 10 are designed to be disposable so that theinserts 10 can be replaced from time to time as the need requires. Theinserts 10 prevent contamination of the plastic totes 12 so the totes 12need can be cleaned less often and thereby reduce operating costs forautomated material handling equipment. Additionally, the inserts 10 canbe recycled with uncoated paperboard. Thus, natural resources formanufacture of the inserts are conserved and fees for disposal of thecoated paperboard in landfills is avoided.

What is claimed is:
 1. A corrugated paperboard insert for a tote, theinsert comprising: four side walls and a bottom made from a single sheetof corrugated paperboard, the bottom comprising four interlocking flapsconnected along fold lines to respective sidewalls and configured toform an auto-locking bottom; wherein the corrugated paperboardcomprises: an uncoated linerboard forming an exterior surface of theinsert; a coated linerboard forming an interior surface of the insert,the coated linerboard including a water-based, moisture resistantcoating that is food contact rated and recyclable with uncoatedlinerboard; a corrugated sheet fixed between the outer linerboard andinner linerboard.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein a point size of theinner linerboard is greater than a point size of the outer linerboard.3. The method of claim 1, wherein the weight of the inner linerboard isgreater than a weight of the outer linerboard.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein a point size and weight of the inner linerboard is greater thana point size and weight of the outer linerboard.